Save the Date - Allie Spencer

Save the Date by Allie Spencer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

'Family weddings can be hell.

...and, marooned in Italy for her cousin's nuptials, Ailsa can be forgiven for thinking that this one is worse than most. With the bride and groom at loggerheads and the guests in uproar, it is a million miles away from the rest and relaxation she'd been hoping for.

And then suddenly, in the middle of the mayhem, she comes face-to-face with Nick, the man she walked out on just a few months earlier.


How can Ailsa help get the wedding back on track when she and Nick can't stop arguing? But if they do, she might remember why she fell in love with him in the first place - and then there really would be trouble.'




This is the first book I have read by Allie Spencer, and I have to say I found it a comical, light hearted, holiday read.


Ailsa has had an invite for a family wedding in Italy, the problem is she is reluctant to go and hasn’t RSVPed yet. It has been sitting in her kitchen for months and the date is nearing. One night after she has been out with her friend and has returned home, she receives an email. She is not sure who it is from, however she gets more and more insisting on her being somewhere. It all becomes clear that it is her cousin Jess, and she wants Allie to attend her wedding in Italy, to put family issues behind them.

Ailsa has problems of her own and feels that actually it may do her good to get away and accepts the invite and whisks herself off to Italy. Allie is nursing a broken heart with her husband Nick, they weren’t married too long but it was a whirlwind romance that got them to the place they are at today.

The book is written through the eyes of Ailsa, she is a likable and humorous character, it is very easy to get sucked into this book and you feel you are one of Ailsa’s friends with her in Italy, willing things to go her way.

While in Italy all is not plain sailing, there are many family wedding dramas between Jess, her parents and the wedding planner. Ailsa also has her fair share of problems with her ex, Nick and a new canine friend… Arthur.

There was so much going on in this story that kept it well paced and was not confusing. I enjoyed this a lot, I read it exceptionally quickly and was sad when it ended. Allie Spencer has the right balance between romance and humour. I loved that Arthur had his own personality and ended up getting into mischief and even though Ailsa is ‘not a dog person’ ends up forming a relationship with the pup and ends up taking responsibility for him.

The cover is stunning and I must say this was what had me hooked before I even read the blurb. It just screams SUMMER READ to you across the book shop! It makes you want to be away on holiday and you begin to dream about the setting.

One thing I would say is the blurb didn’t encourage me to read this book, I felt that the humour in the novel doesn’t come across through it and I think that’s something that’s important. To be able to write humour with romance I think is a skill in itself and I feel that this shouldn’t have gone unnoticed on the blurb.

The story has a good plot with strong characters, it is rammed with action, drama, romance and heartbreak. This is a perfect summer read for the beach. And if you are not away while reading it, by the end you will wish you were, with it set in a stunning location you will wish you were sipping cocktails and drinking champagne along with the other wedding guests.